


Academy days

by Red_Reaper



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Young Grell Sutcliff, Young William T. Spears
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2020-03-17 05:12:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18958567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Reaper/pseuds/Red_Reaper
Summary: A short visit to the hospital wing of the academy tells William more than he wants to know about that annoying redhead student.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My english isn't that good in writing matters so pardon any mistake and if you spot any, please let me know in a nice comment. Your feedback helps me to improve.

Frantic steps could be heard in the hallway of the academy's hospital wing. Two voices joined them, one sounding a little frightened and the other, plain and monotone, talking with just a couple of monosyllables.

"Man, I'm really sorry! I don't know what I did wrong! I mean, I tried to materialize my scythe but I didn't expect to scratch someone else's face with it! It was an accident, I swear it!"

"I just need a forensic, I'm already behind schedule for ethics class. I'll skip lunch".

"I'm really sorry! If we ever get paired again, I promise to be better!"

Walking straight to another hallway filled with beds from side to side, William T. Spears didn't notice a presence in the last row of beds and went straight to one of the forensics directors.

"Good afternoon, my name is William T. Spears and I'm a student in practice from the soul collection division . One of the field's instructors sent me here for an injury I had during my training, materializing our scythes. My partner made a mistake and scratched the right side of my face with his scythe. It's all writen down in this paper".

The forensic director in charge that day nodded, taking the piece of paper. He cast it a quick glance before placing it inside of one of the pockets of his white lab coat, taking a hold of William's face with both hands to examine the injury on his right cheek.

"Wait in one of the beds, please". The man said. William nodded, immediately sitting on the bed just behind him.

Once the forensic was gone, William took out a book from one of the pockets of his black coat, reading intently.

"For god's sake, it's just a stupid scratch".

A voice echoed in the hallway, which made William jump slightly, closing his book. He turned around and faced a redhead student he recognised from a couple of times during his field training. He had heard some things here and there, but he wasn't one to pay attention to rumors.

To be honest, he didn't even know his name.

His forehead was all covered in bandages, resting with some pillows behind his back, in order for him to be in a sitting position and easily look at who walked in and out the hallway.

"Perhaps, but it was made with a scythe and the instructor said that we must be careful with those injuries since our scythes can get us killed". William replied and the redhead student huffed.

"Sure. Because you're really going to die thanks to that little scratch. You haven't even seen a real wound yet and you're making a big fuss over a cat scratch". He gave a sharp laugh and the other reaper delicately raised one eyebrow.

The predatory smile plastered on the redhead's face, made him feel uneasy. The difference in size was evident and for a fleeting moment, William found the idea of feeling threatened by someone that physically looked younger ridiculous.

William only shrugged, returning his attention to his book and making the redhead stare at him with both eyebrows raised. After a couple of minutes of staring almost without blinking, he finally spoke again.

"I suppose you're expecting me to ask about your injuries". Knowing that he wouldn't be able to continue with his studies, William marked the page he was reading by bending one of the corners softly. He closed the book putting it back inside of one of his coat pockets. "You seem to enjoy telling everyone about your skills in combat, but honestly, I don't even know your name".

For the redhead in the other bed, that was almost an insult.

"How in the hell don't you even know my name if you say that everyone talks about me!"

"I just simply don't care, and I don't think that they care either. They are just interested in your abilities, but nothing else. I'm afraid that nobody knows you truly. They only know that you like to cause issues for our instructors and be lazy during most classes. My name is William T. Spears".

The man in the other bed blushed furiously. How dare he to introduce himself after all that shit he said? He could think of so many insults to say. The blank stare he was receiving from the taller man made him feel even angrier.

"I'm Grell, Grell Sutcliff". He introduced himself in between clenched teeth to the man sitting a couple of beds away from him.

"Nice to meet you, Grell sir. Now, what happened and why are you in the hospital?" William inquired and Grell Sutcliff crossed his arms over his chest, looking away.

"None of your business!"

William T. Spears shrugged and thought about getting his book again, when frantic steps returned from the hallway. The same student he was paired with that morning, before the accident, came running towards him, looking pale and scared. He stopped right beside his bed and clutched his chest with one of his hands, breathing heavily.

"William! So... what did the forensics say? Are you in any danger?"

The taller reaper simply shrugged without giving a second thought while the other student breathed heavily, worried for the outcome. William then noticed the intense stare of Grell.

_Longing perhaps? Envying that he had a minor scratch and the attention of at least someone while he was just sitting there, with major injuries and no one asked how he was? Even with his famous abilities?_

"It's just a tiny scratch, so I think I will be fine. But you should ask him how he feels". William replied, gesturing to Grell with his head, getting out his book and opening it on the marked page, silently reading his notes and disconnecting himself from the world around him as he usually did every day.

If he had to wait, then he would use his time wisely.

After all, he didn't need the company but it seemed that Grell did.


	2. Conflicts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, at first it was a one shot but some people convinced me of continue it and well here I am. I'm always like worried of keep going with a story, since my narrative english isn't the best.

A heavy rain knocked the windows of the classroom, while a distracted reaper was contemplating the grey clouds outside. It seemed like it would rain for hours, maybe the whole day.  
A loud thud made him jump slightly, and he noticed that someone was occupying the seat next to his. Grell Sutcliff carelessly dropped his books over his desk and awkwardly sat, groaning a little, trying to find a comfortable position. William grimaced for a moment, it looked quite painful with all those bandages covering his face and wrists.

 _Red_. The taller man noticed the flash of a red pen rolling across the desk, apparently kept inside in one of the books and falling to the floor once they were exaggeratedly dropped over the desk.

"Damn it..." the redhead murmured in between clenched teeth, awkwardly bending to try to pick it up. "And precisely this day..."

Before he could even put his hand over the pen, someone else's hand got it first and offered it to him.

"This is yours". William T. Spears said fixing his glasses, with the other hand, that slipped a little down his nose while he was looking down to grab the pen.

Grell Sutcliff stared for a couple of seconds, before snatching it from his hands and looking away with an obvious expression of pure hatred.

"Whatever". The redhead replied, sighing because of the effort and the pain in every fiber of his undead body.

"You seem to be unwell. Shouldn't you stay in bed if you aren't feeling well?" William observed, staring blankly. Grell Sutcliff let out another sigh without even looking at the reaper next to him, keeping his gaze focused on the books over his desk.

"I've told you before that is none of your business! Why are you sitting next to me anyways!? There are lots of unoccupied desks!"

"I was sitting here before you came" William simply replied, fishing for his own book inside his coat pockets and placing it over his desk. Opening it in the right lesson for the day, the taller man raised an eyebrow at the tiny pile of books over Grell's desk, noticing the little signed card on their covers. He glanced through the titles "20 most shocking cases of murder of all the history, Torture, kidnappers, The dark side of the religion. Interesting choice of literature" the taller reaper stated without any hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Actually didn't thought that you were the type of reaper that would be found sitting up quietly on a library, reading".

"That's precisely the reason of why I take them out". Grell Sutcliff smiled for a moment, making William raise both eyebrows without understand the playful tone of his voice. But that just lasted a second, before the redhead shot him a glare. "Besides, you don't know anything about me to make any stupid assumption".

"I agree, my apologies".

"Damn it, you're so dull and stupid! It will be a complete pain in the ass to be sitting closer to you for the next 2 hours!"

"Then why you don't sit somewhere else? If you need help with your books, I can carry them". William replied and Grell let out a groan, sinking more into the seat.

"Just shut up, focus on your lesson and leave me alone..."

The taller man shrugged and before he could do what he was told, the doors of the classroom opened and the instructor came inside with a heavy folder under one of his arms.

"Good morning class, welcome to another Ethics class". The green eyes of the instructor scanned the classroom and stopped for a couple of seconds over the redhead student who was occupied doodling over a scrap piece of paper. "Grell Sutcliff" the elder reaper coughed to call his attention. Once the redhead raised his head from his drawings and stared defiantly, the man continued. "This is your third fight in the week. Luckily nor you or the other student ended up dead, but don't think that you will escape without punishment".

"Fine, he received his lesson anyways. No one makes fun of me without a little taste of my abilities".

"Abilities that I recommend you to stop testing if you don't want another month of cleaning the entire building. By the way, you will have a new roommate since you almost killed the last one. I'm glad that you're sitting next to him, it's a good start".

At that Grell looked dumbfounded, before snapping his head back towards the taller man sitting next to him.

"Wait... what!? You can't be serious! I'm perfectly fine where I am! Why I need to move out to another bedroom!?"

"Orders of our superiors. From now on, William T. Spears and you will be roommates".

"Why... why him!?" the redhead spat furiously, the instructor shrugged slightly.

"Well, apparently he is the only one in this classroom that doesn't fear being in the same room with you. As you can see..."

Grell blinked a couple of times, looking around and noticing the hint of fear on every reaper's faces, except of course, in William T. Spears, who looked more confused about the sudden change than anything else.

"I refuse to share a room with this idiot!" Grell yelled, pointing at William without even turn around to see him. "And he's a B-rank after all. Don't they have like a building just for them?"

"It doesn't work like that. Besides, the requirements for being a soul collector reaper is B or more".

"Pff..."

"Leaving that aside, don't make me give you worse grades. You're already on C".

Some reapers murmured to each other and the redhead blushed, angrily looking down to the scrap of paper he was doodling in, conscious that the taller reaper was staring at him intently.

"Stop looking at me!" Grell said with clenched teeth, without raising his head from his drawing that William noticed it looked like a kind of chainsaw. He only saw them on books about humans. He didn't have time for anything else but getting ready to confront his fate.

"Not many of you will pass the training and make the test to become Elite Shinigami. So I recommend you all to pay attention to every instructor and use your free time wisely".

William vaguely heard the instructor so he stopped looking at the redhead and paid enough attention to actually take some notes.

_The code of a perfect reaper: Reapers dress code - Black. Never use your scythe against another member of the dispatch._

Raising his head from the notes he was taking, William stared again in the direction of the redhead and noticed that he was actually taking some notes, but adding the word " _Red_ ", every time the instructor talked about the dress code.

"Red socks look better" he heard the man murmuring to himself and the taller reaper caught a glimpse of something red, covering the redhead's ankles.

He looked actually content being alone with his own thoughts and even without knowing him at all, William felt a vague sense of pity.

"So, it's important to know how to address another Shinigami. We will practice the proper way of talking with a fellow member of the dispatch. As you all already know, we aren't the only branch of Shinigami, so it's important to know the proper manners if we are going to meet other branches." the instructor sighed for a second. "This definitely will be useful for you, Sutcliff. Why you don't practice your manners with Spears?"

The redhead dropped his pen over the notes and slowly turned around with a plastered grin on his face, extending his hand towards the taller reaper.

"Hello! My name is Grell Sutcliff, nice to meet you!" he said in a high pitch tone and William caught a glimpse of a little trembling in his body.

The other Shinigami noticed the discomfort in the man in front of him and wondered for a second if it was wise to shake hands with him.

"Nice to meet you. I'm William T. Spears".

The redhead shook his hand with excessive force. A strength that almost looked natural on him.

"Well, that's a start. It will get better with the time, I'm sure. You two will get to know each other well, in these two years of training".

While they were shaking hands, William wondered how Grell's hair was such a vivid red color and how his eyes, even with being like any other reaper's eyes, looked so different at the same time. So full of life.

His hand kept feeling numb even after the class ended.

Grell Sutcliff wasn't precisely the roommate he wished for.

Going back to his bedroom, William T. Spears walked to a desk in a corner of the room and opened the only window, taking out his leathered, black book and adding a few notes.

Just in time, because Grell Sutcliff entered unannounced.

“104... hmm". The redhead raised his head from a piece of paper where William guessed he had writen the door number, balancing a couple of boxes in his arms. “Same ugly window in front of a desk, same litter, same bathroom and closet. Same..." the redhead smiled fully. “different but still boring roommate".

The space was tiny even before the redhead moved in, as William watched carefully while Grell Sutcliff tossed a few boxes under the bed, dropping all his books over the pillows. With both hands at each side of his hips, the redhead scanned the room, huffing.

"I want this bed. You can have the other".

"It's a litter, I don't have any other option but using the bed above yours". Seated next to the desk, William T. Spears closed the little black leather book that Grell noticed a few times before and supposed that the taller reaper carried with him to take notes during the classes and trainings, placing it carefully inside one of his pants pockets.

The redhead reaper shrugged, throwing himself in his bed, jumping slightly, as if testing the mattress.

"I should have brought my old mattress with me". William rolled his eyes, standing and stopping next to the other reaper, crossing both arms at the sight of the redhead actually contemplating the idea.

"Honestly, I seriously doubt that our instructors would have approved such thing".

"Whatever, just leave me alone, yeah? Go and study somewhere else". Grell gave one final bounce, landing again in the mattress with both arms behind his head and closing his eyes, throwing several books to the floor and making William wonder how he did it without actually hitting himself with the wooden top of the litter.

“This was my room before you moved in".

“We always have a roommate. What happened to your roommate?"

“He changed his career options to something less life threatening. Decided that he would join the forensics instead".

“He ran away like a coward!?" Grell chuckled, opening his eyes and staring at him, blinking a couple of times. William simply nodded barely making an affirmative movement. “Forensics are just a bunch of nerdies that come into the scene after we did all the hard work, like carrion birds".

Will's eyebrows twitched but he decided that it was pointless to start an argument, instead bending to pick some of the books and look through the pages.

"Don't you think that humans are twisted in multiple ways? Dressing their deceased ones with their best robes to take a picture with them, pretending that they are alive? Killing, decapitating, kidnapping and worshiping a god that they don't even know if exists or not?" The redhead asked, eyes closed again, as if he knew what William was doing. The taller reaper sighed, passing the gory pages quickly. Something about the blood was really unsettling for him.

"But still you're reading about it with great enthusiasm".

"Can't help it if I find it interesting", Grell Sutcliff turned to face the wall. "Humans are disgusting, but..."

A knock in the door interrupted the conversation, but Grell didn't move, so William supposed that he was the one opening the door this time.

"Thank you. Yes, thank you".

Hearing the tone in William's voice, made Grell Sutcliff groan and wonder when he would be able to get some rest. He didn't want to study as much as that annoying reaper he had to share the room with.

"Let me guess, another stupid practice..."

"Actually more than that".

Grell's eyes flew open, turning around and sitting on bed while William walked directly to the desk, placing the brown envelope in the wooden surface and staring at it like if it were about to explode.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Just open it!"

The taller reaper sighed and started to open the envelope with extreme care. Usually their scheduled practices and classes, never came in brown envelopes like that. Inside it, William found a piece of paper with black calligraphy.

_"Students Grell Sutcliff & William T. Spears_

_Fields practice - November 05_

_The practice will be taken in pairs. Instructors will give further details during the week"._

"Fields practice in two weeks". Grell complained, getting up and folding his arms across his chest with a disapproval look on his face. "How are we supposed to pass this practice if we aren't even in the same level of training? Shouldn't I be paired with a student with the same grades as me?"

"Little reminder that you're triple A on practical skills only".

“And isn't that enough!? Isn't that what this is all about!?"

William T. Spears shook his head a couple of times before taking out the black leathered book and walking back towards the desk, writing something down on the book with a pen.

Looking over his shoulders, Grell noticed that the book was something like a diary:

_Diary of William T Spears:_

_Today I have a new roommate. His name is Grell Sutcliff and my first encounters with him prooved that we definitely will never get along. He is lazy, arrogant and likes to pick up fights for no reason. After my last roommate, I really expected something better._

“Bastard! When did you wrote all that!?" Grell Sutcliff shouted right on his ear, making William quickly closed the book and stood up just in time to avoid a gloved hand punching his face. “You're just another asshole, jealous of my grades!"

“Watch your mouth in this room" William replied, fixing his glasses. “And I'm hardly but jealous, you're nothing but a troublemaker and honestly, without a scythe..."

“Do you want a little taste of my abilities!? I did it before and I'm not afraid of doing it again!"

William's eyebrows twitched at this. He refused to keep listening to his complaints and felt the urge to give him a piece of his mind.

The shouting could be heard in the hallway. Grell Sutcliff stared, speechless, unsure if he was sharing the room with the same reaper he met that day in the hospital wing.

He was a triple A student! He wouldn't have any of this!

“Don't you dare to even touch me with that thing or I will make sure to have you kicked from the realm". William said in between clenched teeth staring at Grell's scythe. “I'm not like the others. I can defend myself pretty well!"

“Of course! Hiding behind our superiors, like a coward! Come and fight me! Show me your B rank, mister perfection!"

“I will not waste my time fighting or arguing with you anymore. And if you wish to pass the test, I highly recommend you to use your time wisely and pay attention to your studies".

The redhead blushed deeply. No one would ever tell him what to do or not.

Sitting as far as possible from the redhead student, William T Spears looked away, arms crossed, while Grell Sutcliff kept his head up, eyes fixed on the ceiling and huffing from time to time. The discussion lasted 3 hours and stopped with a loud banging outside their door. A silver haired shinigami stood behind the door, making William give a deep sigh and making Grell raise one eyebrow. His stupid roommate seemed annoyed with his presence, as much as he wanted to keep his cold mask.

 _How the things would improve thanks to his presence?_ The taller reaper grunted quietly.

All the memories William had of the silver haired reaper, was a laugh. He couldn't believe that he were a legend.

Undertaker characteristic laughter could be heard throughout the hall. Something on William's annoyed expression and the way Grell was blushing furiously, was really entertaining for the silver haired reaper.

"I'm sorry lad, no refunds". Undertaker's long finger, pointed in the direction of Grell Sutcliff who huffed more loudly in response. "The rest of the students refused to share a room with you, young boy, so there's nothing else we can do". William narrowed his eyes for a moment. "But I have a hunch that the two of you will end being good friends sooner or later".

"A hunch?" William suddenly asked, as polite as he could muster, still avoiding to look at the reaper standing by the door of their bedroom. "I don't want to be rude or anything sir, but that sounds... impossible".

Grell Sutcliff let out a tiny grunt, noticing the pause in William's words, huffing even louder, knowing that he wanted to say something more.

Undertaker laughed again at the sight of William fixing his glasses at Grell's childish complains.

"Trust me, you two will eventually get along".

"I don't have time for this, thanks for nothing". Grell Sutcliff waved one of his hands, shrugging it off and bending over to pick up his books from the floor. "I will be somewhere else, so you don't have to see my horrendous face". With that the redhead student left the room, making the silver haired reaper give a sharp laugh.

William shook his head for a moment, unfolding his arms and resting the palms on his thighs, offering an apologetic look to the high ranked shinigami standing by the door, without actually knowing what to do.

"Maybe you two could make some sort of deal?"

William raised one eyebrow, blinking fast. Deal? Did that shinigami miss the last 3 hours of heated discussion and insults in between each other? He really doubted it since he believed that at some point of the discussion their voices could be heard in the entire building.

William couldn't even remember all the things they were yelling to each other, but he thought he heard himself making snarky comments about the redhead's hair and general appearance.  
Why did he say all these things?

The taller reaper rubbed his face a couple of times with both hands, standing up and telling himself that perhaps he had to apologize and follow the advice of Undertaker.

Walking quickly and nearly colliding with every student and instructor in his way, Grell Sutcliff stormed out the academy grunting and cursing, climbing into one of the trees that surrounded the building and looking up the grey clouds in the sky.

_"That outrageous red hair"._

William's words were buzzing inside his head like bees, stopping him from concentrating in his reading. No matter how much these pages were filled with blood and dismembered bodies, he couldn't concentrate well enough and kept repeating every detail of the discussion in his mind.

Grell Sutcliff lamented still feeling sore, wanting to erase that disgusting frown of William's face.

The sun was hiding in the horizon, surprising William in the search for his annoying roommate. Fighting half of the day wasn't the ideal so with a little sigh of defeat, the taller reaper made his way out of the building to the gardens surrounding the academy.

Taking his glasses off to clean them from the rain that had started to fall, William heard the distinct sound of Grell's voice and looked up, placing them back quickly, hoping that the redhead already vanished all the books he was reading to the safety of their room.

"Why are you here?" The rain made it difficult to see, but William thought he was staring at the fuzzy silhouette of his annoyed roommate, sitting in one of the largest branches of the tree in front of him.

"We must talk..."

"Oh! So now we're going to talk? Because three hours ago you were telling me how arrogant and lazy I am. How you wish to have another roommate".

Jumping down with a soft  _“Oww!"_  when his shoes slipped for a second in the wet grass, Grell Sutcliff pulled his soaked hair back uselessly and crossed his arms with an expression of pure hatred on his face.

“Undertaker is right, we must make a truce".

“Don't you dare to tell me that" Grell Sutcliff snapped, placing one hand on his hip. "I'm not the one who wrote all these horrible things".

William was at a loss of what to say to convince the redhead to stop arguing, or at least take their discussion back to the comfort of their warm, dry bedroom.

"Could we at least go back to our room?" the taller reaper offered, squinting to see better.

"Fine. I can't read here anyways".

Soaked from head to toe, both reapers walked in complete silence, occasionally interrupted by the sound of their wet shoes in the floor of the hallway. Fidgeting with the cuffs of his wet jacket, William decided that the best way to make a deal with the offended redhead was praising his abilities with the scythe.

Once the door of the bedroom closed behind them, Grell's small jacket hit William's face catching him off guard. The redhead reaper locked himself inside the bathroom, completely ignoring William, who had to resist the urge of shouting again, and simply sighed. He took off his own wet jacket and rest his back against the wooden ladder of the litter, until the redhead emerged from the bathroom.

They stood there, simply staring at each other, one ready to insult the other if needed.

Grell made the first move by walking next to the taller reaper, bending to pick one of the boxes from under the bed and a pair of red pajamas.

_Red._

"There's still free space in the closet".

"I don't need to unpack, I never stay in the same place anyways".

"Could you cut the rude attitude and listen at least just once? We will be stuck in this room for two years and get paired in most of the trainings and exams. I want both of us to pass and the only way of achieve it is by working together. Knowing each other, understanding each other".

"Do you mean shouting at each other?"

"I'm serious, we must make a deal. We can't keep getting scolded by our instructors or... Undertaker" William's eyebrows twitched and that almost made Grell laugh, knowing that the taller reaper wasn't that fond of the silver haired reaper.

Or anything that laughed and joked around, William seemed to despise every possible emotion.

"And how you suppose that we will make a deal?"

"You will help me with my practical technique and I will help you with the exams".


	3. A new beginning?

William T. Spears couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. He couldn't stop dreaming with an awful turn of events during the coming field practice. The constant moving caused an annoying chirping sound in the wood litter, that quickly woke Grell up.

"Can you please stop moving and go to bed? I need my beauty rest!" The redhead mumbled under the pillow covering his head.

"I'm sorry, I just can't sleep". William said staring to the ceiling. _Why was he so afraid? Would they get kicked out of the realm if they failed the field practice? Both? So... if that annoying redhead didn't cooperate, he would pay the consequences too?_

 "I think the entire realm noticed". The redhead grunted, placing the pillow back under his head, kicking the wooden top of the litter with his foot.

"Have you thought about the field practice?" The taller reaper asked and Grell shifted in bed, yawning and shrugging. William could feel the movement of the bed beneath him and practically hear the smile in the redhead's voice.

"No". The reaper smiled with his face pressed against the pillow. "I have the best grades of this damn academy". Grell rested over his stomach, placing his chin over his arms and staring into the night through the window of the room. "It makes me wonder what kind of danger we will face during the field practice".

William sighed deeply, staring again to the ceiling. _Now he had something else to worry about._

"Shut up and sleep. If my skin gets ruined I will blame you".

Soon, the redhead reaper was sleeping soundly while William kept staring to the ceiling. The taller reaper refrained himself from rolling his eyes at the sound of the redhead's snoring.

The morning came and the redhead was surprised of finding the taller reaper already awake, fully dressed and sitting at the desk, closing a heavy leather book and stretching, checking his pocket watch and noticing that the redhead wasn't precisely a morning reaper.

"How many hours you have awake?" Grell Sutcliff yawned into the back of his hand, stretching and blowing a lock of unruly hair, letting out a sigh of frustration. "Our next class it's just 15 minutes away".

"Four or five, I think". He said before the redhead sat up from bed and bent to look for his clothes among the boxes under the litter. He let out a strangled yelp and got up immediately, blushing furiously and holding the last box that left under his bed. His underwear.

"What you did with the rest of my things!?"

"I had a few minutes free after studying and thought that your clothes wouldn't get wrinkles..." Grell could notice that the man refrained himself from making a snarky comment about his lazy appearance. “If they were properly hanged in the closet” William sighed, fishing for a little comb inside of one of his pants pockets “And had to make sure that none of the pages of your books, or the library books, were damaged, placing them next to your shoes. Of course that I didn't want to touch your underwear..."

"You could have _asked_ if I wanted all my things on the closet, imbecile!" Grell grumbled in between clenched teeth, but soon remembering that he had to be ready for his next class. One of his favorites.

"Why do I have to ask if you would have say no anyway? I did it more for my own sake than anything else, since I couldn't keep looking at all  these wrinkles on your suit". William gestured towards Grell's front jacket and the redhead wanted to scream but deciding against it, remebering that he was going to be late. Grell moved around under William's intense glare, opening and closing the wardrobe doors and drawers, turning his head on time once the redhead started undressing, forgetting for a moment that he wasn't entirely alone in the room, pulling on his black pants and white shirt, his necktie awkwardly tied under his shirt collar.

"We will discuss it later, I can't be late for this class". The redhead said, closing the front buttons of his jacket.

The taller reaper raised one of his eyebrows as he got up and straightened his suit. They only had one class together, the Ethics class. But he supposed that once they were together as partners during their final tests, they would have more than just one class together.

As if his thoughts were listened, a quiet knock in the door startled both reapers and this time Grell opened it with a grunt and an annoyed: "What!?"

Green eyes met his own as a young girl was standing behind the door, with a white envelope in her trembling hands. The girl shyly extended the envelope in the direction of the redhead as Grell snatched it up from her hands without even say a word.

"Apologies for the rudeness of my roommate. Thank you". William said politely inclining his head towards the girl and closing the door while his redhead partner was busy opening the letter and reading as fast as his eyes could go from side to side.

"How you can be in the same classes as me, if you're a B grade student!?" Grell stated with a surprised look on his face, staring at the letter inside the envelope in disbelief.

"Perhaps I'm not in the same level of training as you, but that doesn't include the rest of the classes". William shrugged, picking his books from the desk in the corner. "Culture class, huh? I thought that you were disgusted with the humans".

"I am. I'm not interested in the human world anymore, but I have to admit that they have interesting weapons and practices".

The taller reaper shook his head a couple of times, frowning for a moment and staring deeply into Grell's eyes, making the other blush of embarrassment and avert his gaze.

"What!?" the redhead mumbled while looking at the floor like if it was the most interesting thing in the world. After a couple of seconds where his thoughts danced in between the intoxicating proximity of the man and his peculiar scent, a mixture of soap, ink and fresh parchment, and how much he wanted to just slap him and run, William then proceeded to just hold Grell's tie and fix it to his liking.

"We're going to be late". The taller reaper stated without even offer any explanation to his actions and walking through the corridors, leaving a flustered redhead behind.

_"Jerk"_

William didn't enjoy the Culture classes as much as Grell did. All these wars and dead people only meant for him a great amount of overtime, demons and the possibility of contracting the Thorns of Death. But it seemed that his partner enjoyed all the blood and dismembered human bodies that day after day only seemed to grow in amount on each war happening.

The expression of utterly pleasure in the redhead's face was something that William never saw before in all the time they had spent together in the same room.

_Almost like if he wanted to be there._

Sitting at the edge of the chair, he seemed about to jump. His notes were filled of very detailed drawings of chainsaws and words that he couldn't distinguish from where he was sitting.

"Isn't interesting, William?" The redhead suddenly turned back to smile at him. The taller reaper was sitting just behind him and all he could see was his scandalous red hair and a few of his notes.

No wonder why he was so skilled with his scythe.


	4. A practice before the practice

_2 weeks for their first field practice wasn't precisely enough time to get ready._

"And how will you know if we have judged correctly?" Grell Sutcliff raised his hand in the middle of the Culture class and their tutor smiled softly. "This war...  _The Third Coalition."_ William coughed heavily, choking himself with his own saliva when trying not to laugh at the redhead having to look down his notes to remember the name of the war they were studying a couple of minutes ago. Grell simply ignored him and continued. "How will you know if we have judged correctly? Our target has the potential to change the course of the whole situation _but it doesn't mean he should be alive after that, right?_ "

"Indeed, you're right. If he gets killed after the peace talks, his soul will be collected". Their tutor replied but Grell didn't look satisfied with the answer.

"And if this human decides to betray his allies and make everything worse? Do we kill him?"

"That will not be necessary since his destiny has been decided already". Their tutor looked through the files he was holding in hands. "He will die from a shot in the head, killed by British soldiers commanded by the prime minister William Pitt".

Grell gave a sharp laugh and William shook his head a couple of times. He really couldn't understand why humans couldn't keep their promises.

"But first, we will practice. It's important to know your partner to ensure no errors during the collections". Their tutor looked through the files again. "Your practical technique it's flawless, Grell Sutcliff, so I suppose that you will pass with no problem". William swallowed, feeling momentary tense and their tutor smiled fully. "You shouldn't look so worried, William".

Grell Sutcliff turned with a predatory smile on his face. _What he had meant with that?_ That he didn't have to worry, because the redhead would keep him safe?

" _How did you do that?_ " William asked, walking outside the classroom a few feet away from the redhead that was playing with his scythe in hands, throwing it to the air, making it dissapear in the last minute and re appear catching it again.

"How I did what?... catch my scythe?"  William looked at Grell's scythe bouncing in his hands and the redhead's mouth formed an O with understanding. "I don't know. I just sense its presence, I guess".

" _Are you sure?_ It never works for me when summoning my scythe". The redhead played with his scythe for the last time and shrugged. The taller reaper looked deeply focused and it started to make Grell feel awkward, curling a few strands of his hair with his fingers avoiding his intense gaze on him.

"Stop looking at me like that!" the redhead snapped and William cleared his throat _._ Grell Sutcliff yawned into the back of his hand, giving a small frown. "Are you worried for our first practice before _the_ actual field practice?"

"Honestly, you'd rather not wish to know" William mumbled from being embarrassed. Momentarily, Grell felt a wash of fear breeze over him.

"So you think that _I_ will not pass it, isn't it?" Grell answered, resting the back of his head in both hands. "Isn't too difficult to judge a soul, _you know_...?" The taller reaper narrowed his eyes. "Humans deserve to die and that's it".

"I didn't say-" William tried to argue but stopped abruptly as he got a feeling of having something caught in his throat as the redhead pushed the main doors of the academy and their instructor read their names in a folder.

"Grell Sutcliff, William T. Spears". the instructor looked quite young, perhaps one hundred and fifty years old or a bit less. His long black hair framed dark green and yellow eyes under thick rimmed red and silver glasses. "You two will be the team _A_ " the man ignored Grell's soft giggles and continued. "and you two will cover the commercial district of London". The instructor paused for a second to fix his glasses. "The main goal of this practice is test your skills with your scythe, while fighting against low ranked demons. This is a controlled test, so that means that I will be around, taking notes of your progress".

"If I understood correctly, you will let low ranked demons running free in the most populated areas of London?" Grell asked, arms crossed and brows raised in surprise. "Isn't that against the _rules_?"

"You will work in teams, so that means that you two will go first. Once William and you are done, the next team will jump into action. I'm ready to intervene at any moment if things get out of control". The instructor brushed a lock of hair away from his eyes and William crossed his own arms in front of his chest, frowning. His redheaded roommate had a particular distaste for the rules and that made him wonder if he was capable of follow any order given to him. "You aren't allowed to collect any human soul, in the case the demon could find any during the practice. We, as instructors, will make sure to keep humans safe during the practice".

Both William and Grell nodded, the first a little bit apprehensive and the last bouncing in the spot with excitement.

"Demons have a particular smell that permits us the reapers, trace their movements in the human world. Don't worry about confusing the smell with humans smell, the stench it's pretty heavy. Follow me, please. I suppose that you both _know_ how to transport yourselves?"

Grell turned to look at William, panic on his face.  
  
"I can't do the transporting properly..."  
  
"I will do it". William sighed and the instructor nodded in front of them. "Are we supposed to transport to any particular place in the commercial district?"

"There's no clue of where the demon will decide to hide, so at some point you two will need to separate in order to cover more territory. Remember that you must protect the humans at any cost".

 _Separate?_ William thought in a few things that could go wrong by separating, a calculating look on his face.  Perhaps Grell felt confident of his practical skills, but he couldn't say the same. He wasn't the quickest recruit in the whole academy, but William was decided to improve.

_Definitely with the help of his annoying roommate._

"Alright, we're now in the transporting point" the instructor said and William looked around. He barely could see the buildings of the academy, while Grell Sutcliff was cleaning his pants from all the dirt and leaves stuck on them. The tall grass made it difficult to see the horizon.

"Why are we in this desolate field, far away from the academy?" Grell suddenly asked and William wondered the same while the instructor simply smiled.  
  
"It helps to confuse the demons and intruders". the man shrugged. "I can't say it works, but it buys us some time. Go from here to the commercial district of London and I will meet you there once your practice it's done. You have 1 hour to complete it".

The redhead turned to face William while the taller reaper tried hardly to concentrate in transporting both of them.

No sooner had Grell's feet touched the floor, however, the redhead slipped and William's hand stretched out to grip his wrist and pull the redhead sharply towards him to stop him from almost falling from a roof they landed in.

" _Ouch!_ " Grell complained as soon as his face hit William's chest and he looked up to see the concentrated face of the taller reaper, staring down the streets, probably measuring the damage.

"Pay attention to your surroundings" William mumbled under his breath and Grell giggled, still a bit shaken up.

"Isn't my fault, Will!" the taller reaper flinched a little with how the redhead shortened his name. "How I'm supposed to know where I'm landing when transporting?"

"That's the thing about concentrating yourself enough and visualizing your objective". The taller reaper stated, letting go of Grell's wrist and scrutinizing their surroundings. The commercial district was already filled with humans walking from a side to another.

"How are we supposed to find this demon, just in time?" Grell asked quietly, rubbing his sore wrist.

_That was precisely the question._


	5. Different ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William and Grell must separate in order to find the demon and William isn't as confident as Grell about it.

Cautiously walking through a dark alley, Willian sighed at Grell voicing his thoughts.

“Are we really going to ignore the fact that we, the shinigami, let demons run free in the human realm with the purpose of training ourselves?" the redhead seemed strangely excited, walking faster. “Are we going to ignore the fact that maybe one of at least ten trainings could have gone wrong and a human could have get killed?

“We can't question our..." William started but Grell cut him off with a hint of annoyance.

“Superiors".  The redhead sighed, stopping right in the middle of William's way, crossing both arms. “Seriously William, you never wonder why we have to go through all this? What do we all have in common?"

“With you? Hopefully nothing". William simply said, fixing his glasses and Grell huffed. “For what purpose?"

“Really, William?" Grell huffed, eyes as big as plates, brushing a lock of hair away from his forehead. “Knowledge, obviously! I can't believe that someone like you that keeps his nose constantly stuck on a book, asked such question!"

“And what would you do with all these “knowledge, Sutcliff?"

“Well, for some reason we were supposedly dead and then reanimated or something, to reap human's souls". The redhead said, tapping his chin with one of his fingers, thoughtfully “Our instructors seem to avoid my questions, every time I try to find out from where we all come from. I mean..." Grell suddenly blushed looking somewhat ashamed and equally frustrated. “You seem older than me..."

“I suppose that we will find out the truth later". William replied, scanning his surroundings. “Imagine if we knew all these answers before becoming what we are supposed to become. None of us would want to reap human's souls anymore".

Grell Sutcliff blinked a couple of times, actually surprised with such idea.

“Are you saying that they keep secrets to keep us controlled? I didn't know you thought in that way about our superiors, Will ~" Grell giggled and William rolled his eyes, pushing him away with one hand over his shoulder. “Hey, don't get mad! You said it first!"

“It just has sense. The less we know, the better we work". The taller reaper said returning to his search for the demon. “At least, that's something I would do if I wanted no mistakes". Will mumbled, but it wasn't quiet enough for Grell to miss.

“Whatever" the redhead shrugged, walking faster enough to catch up with William's pace and walk side by side with his partner. “How are we supposed to find this demon in such big place like this?"

“I suppose by trusting in our instincts". William replied, reaching the end of the alley, barely avoiding a group of kids running in the sidewalk.

“Instincts!? Are you stupid or something!? We haven't ever faced a demon before and you come with that stupid bullshit about instincts like if we knew what we are doing or something?" Grell grumbled, angrily bitting his lower lip, bleeding a little. “We are under training, remember!? We have absolutely zero idea of how to do most of the things!"

“You said it yourself. We must have something in common. Something different from other humans and we should know how to deal with this kind of situations. The smell. That's what we should follow".

Grell wrinkled his nose for a moment and sighed, shaking his head a couple of times.

“Well, genius, do you smell something? I can't smell anything else but these nasty humans".

William feared that their instructors were right. They had to separate, it would help to cover more territory.

“We must take different ways to cover more territory. Otherwise it will take hours and we don't have that much time". The taller reaper stated and Grell suddenly stopped walking, making the other stop and turn around to face him.

“Of course, that sounds like a good idea". William waited for the sarcasm that he knew, it was about to come. “But once we find this demon, what are we supposed to do? Fight in solo, while the other magically guess the right location? Well, that's definitely a good plan, Mr B average!"

William grunted a little at these words, raising one eyebrow. He was definitely the one in disadvantage since he didn't had these flawless skills the redhead possessed.

He really hated nicknames. Specially that one. His grades didn't define him as a reaper. He could do it like everybody else, he was as capable as everybody else.

“Are you scared of this demon, Sutcliff?" William counteracted and Grell's eyes opened fully before laughing loudly enough to scare a couple of street cats.

“Me? Hah, never! Don't be ridiculous! I think that someone else is scared. A certain reaper in front of me. I was just asking because I don't want you taking all the credit, once I beat this demon's ass!"

“We don't have any other choice. One of us will find it first and hope for the other to follow the smell and join the fight just in time".

“And what if none of us find it? What if possess a human or something? I have been reading about it and only few priests know that once the human starts to act strange, that is posessed. Others believe that it's just crazy or something.

“If that happens, I suppose that our instructor will stop our training immediately and take the matter with his own hands. I will go to the east and you can go to the west. We will meet here again if none of us find the demon by then".

“And what IF, we find it".

“I will think in something". William simply said, taking his scythe out of his belt and jumping as higher as he could, leaving a frustrated redhead behind.

“Hope you find it first, to see how good you can defend yourself. Jerk". Grell said with a fully toothed grin, before jumping in the opposite direction.

While jumping from roof to roof, William indeed wondered what would he do if he found the demon first and had to fight him in solo.

A low ranked demon, had to be easier.

But..

What if that low ranked demon wasn't actually that low ranked and otherwise, a good fighter? He would be in troubles and his instructor would be really disappointed of him.

He couldn't stand that. He would never let that happen.

Grell Sutcliff seemed so confident of his abilities and William was completely sure that he would face that creature without any doubt. He could see it in his crazy and demonic eyes as he supposed a demon had to look like.

Sometimes he wondered if Grell was more a demon in disguise than an actual reaper.


	6. The demon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pardon any mistake, practicing to improve. Please let me know how I did it. Your feedback helps me to improve as I said before.

Chasing a demon with no clue of his whereabouts was boring enough for Grell to easily get distracted by all the season fashion exposed in the windows of each store he came closer by.

He was,  _in theory_ ,  _“invisible"_ to every human unless they were closer to die or around someone that was closer to, so he supposed that a little change in his daily attire wouldn't hurt much.

At the end, rules didn't specify anything about it. And he wasn't precisely  _stealing_ , no. He would just take it for a moment and perhaps return it someday.

Staring through the windows, Grell could even see the unforgettable scowl in William's face.

_“Stop thinking nonsenses and keep looking for the demon. Our test will be over and we will fail"._

He seriously hopped that William found that creature first. Grell wanted to see in first row, the fantastic skills of Mr.B Average in action.

“I can't wait to hear his cries of pain, with that voice of his, begging for me to help and save his ass!" The redhead giggled hysterically, dancing in between the humans inside the clothing store, taking out his temporary scythe and slowly snatching a french beret, placing it over his head and swirling around in front of a full lengthed mirror. “Cute, but I will need something different to wear with this, than this awful black clothes".

But for William the searching wasn't as fun as for Grell. The reaper couldn't stop glancing at his pocket watch, fixing his glasses while jumping from roof to roof.

What if his annoying partner was right and the demon could be possessing an innocent human or worse, becoming one?

He heard that expresion once. Fully trained reapers saying that they found cinematic records of humans that were  _“as evil as the devil himself"_. An interesting and definitely inconvenient turn of events that they weren't prepared for.

Where that demon could be hiding? He couldn't feel the atrocious smell filling  the air that his instructors mentioned before. All he could perceive was the distinct smell of every human and trash around the streets and every alley he jumped in.

A dreadful feeling, like a hard punch on his stomach, at the thought of failing the test.

He seriously hoped that the redhead had better luck with his search. He had the best skills of the entire class anyways, so a little part of him really hoped for Grell to find the demon first.

And Grell started to wish the same after several minutes of watching humans go by. Why there wasn't any handsome one to at least have fun with? Everything was awful and so unatractive.

He laughed at himself, completely sure that William would scold him for worrying about such thing and stopping his search of the filthy creature.

Suddenly he felt a rush of excitement through his entire body. The idea of jumping in the middle of an exorcism made him squeal and clap both hands, smiling devilishly.

Humans were so stupid. The only ones capable of dealing with the devil itself were precisely them.

The Shinigami.

“Demon, oh demon! Where are you hiding!? C'mon, I don't want to hurt you!" Grell called, smiling to himself and taking his scythe out of his belt. “Well, not too much. I promise..." He quietly whispered to himself, jumping again and scanning his surroundings.

They had exactly 30 minutes more and he didn't want any black mark in his perfect record.

At least in fighting matters, since he already had a stupid annoying  _C_ on Ethics.

William landed in the last roof, panting and staring at his pocket watch with a frown.

_Impossible. If the demon wasn't where he was, then it had to be where Grell was. There wasn't any other place to hide..._

He was about to vanish and look for the redhead in question, when a sudden crash of a window in a store down in the street, caught his attention and made him stop dead in his tracks.

 _Just thieves_ , he thought for a moment but still jumped down to make a closer inspection of the situation.

Broken glass under his feet made the only noise when he stepped over it, trying to avoid using his hands and simply jump inside to look around.

A kind of print shop or a bookstore, he couldn't tell due the darkness. It looked like if several books had fallen from their shelves and were now lying on the floor under his feet.

The silence inside was almost unbearable as William walked cautiously, listening to the sound of his own undead pulse. Why there wasn't anyone inside the store if, he supposed, was open to the public?

William quickly found out the reason, cornered by something strangely tall. Some sort of humanoid with two long legs and somehow comically short arms and head, growling to a human woman completely paralized with fear.

The woman didn't seem to notice him approaching them, so William sighed relieved to know that perhaps the woman wasn't destined to die. Slowly bending to take one of the fallen books, the taller reaper measured the distance and quickly threw the book to distract the demon and give the woman a chance to escape.

It worked. The demon growled and quickly turned around, ignoring the woman running away, almost colliding with the reaper.

“Finally..." William murmured under his breath, staring at the pools of black that he supposed, were the demon's eyes and the big unshaped mouth filled with long and pointy teeth.

 _“Just like Grell's"_ , he thought for a fleeting moment, grabbing more books and throwing them to the creature, stepping back and making the demon follow him outside the store and where he couldn't damage any human during the extermination.

His instructors were right. The smell was pretty awful and dense, hitting his nostrils with no rest. He quickly learned to hate it.

“Let's finish with this. 24 minutes more and the test will end".

Grell Sutcliff sighed for the fifth time that day.

Where that stupid demon was and why he couldn't find it if he was the very best of that stupid damn academy?

“Hopefully Mr.B Average had better luck than me and it's fighting with it already or something". The redhead convinced himself while jumping in between roofs to join him. “I can't wait to see that thought".

Taking out his scythe from his belt, William stared at a now angry demon, growling at him and running incredibly fast with its long legs, ready to jump over him and scratch him on the face with its rather large nails.

Quickly those nails crashed against the metal of his scythe as William tried to push them away, relieved that its arms weren't as long as its legs, making it less dificult.

Internally he wished for Grell to join the battle.

And he couldn't do anything but sigh in relief as a second scythe flew in the air and hit the demon in the head, hard enough to make him lose its balance and give William enough room to jump back next to the owner of the mentioned scythe.

“Woah, the instructors didn't lie about the smell. It's quite awful!" Grell stretched his arm to catch his scythe back and William stared at his clothes for a moment.

“Where did you get those clothes? Our instructors said that we couldn't kill or harm any human".

“And you just assume that I killed someone, just because I wanted new clothes?"

“ _So you simply stole them?"_

“I was bored, okay? I was tired of searching, so I did something different".

“So you stole them just because you were bored?" The taller reaper seemed surprise by Grell's actions, making the other scowl at him.

“Can we just focus in the demon and stop discussing about my attire? I think that we have better things to worry about than what I do when bored".

And as much as he hated to admit it, Grell was right. The now furious demon was jumping back at them, ready to continue with the fight.

“We are two against one, it should be easy now". Grell said, jumping to meet the demon in the air and stab him with his scythe, but getting kicked in the stomach by a long leg, crashing against the floor of a couple of roofs behind.

William sighed shaking his head and preparing for his turn, listening to the angry voice of his partner, jumping back quickly.

“Don't you even dare to ruin my new clothes, stupid ugly demon!"

The creature growled even harder in a high pitched tone, making both reapers cover their ears with the  sound. Grell letting out an angry growl of his own, throwing his scythe that flew like a boomerang to the creature's head and sucessfully sliced his tongue that fell to the ground at their feet, moving on its own for a couple of minutes before lying motionless in a tiny pool of blood.

The look of absolute repulsion in William's eyes made Grell giggle and stretch his arm to the air to catch his scythe.

“Now what do you think of me, Mr.B Average?" The redhead giggled again and the taller reaper rolled his eyes, running, scythe in hand, ready to stab the confused creature, making it bleed even more, soaking them both with that disgusting smell. “Argh! You didn't had to do that, you idiot!"

He was sure that Grell wouldn't let him hear the end of it, but looking at his pocket watch, there wasn't much more he could do. They had to kill the demon no matter what and some fancy clothes weren't going to stop him from doing so.

“Watch out!" Grell suddenly yelled and William frowned while looking at him, not turning fast enough to avoid a long nail scratching his face from side to side and sending him tumbling backwards, hitting his head against a fireplace in one of the roofs. His face burning and sending a jolt of pain through his entire body. “Don't fall asleep already, Mr.B Average! We still have to kill this piece of garbage!"

But for some weird reason, William found it hard to move or worse, keep himself awake, slowly closing his eyes and losing the sight of the redhead still fighting the demon in the distance.


	7. The academy council

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember that your feedback helps me to improve my english.

Now, that was definitely a real injury.

Grell Sutcliff winced at the thought of such scar, palming one of his shoulders with the wooden handle of his scythe, wondering if he had to carry his annoying roommate back to the academy by himself or wait for their instructor.

Looking at the dead demon and back to his unconscious roommate, the redhead sighed tiredly. Too much work for just one reaper.

William's glasses were now broken and hanging funnily over his nose. Bending just a few inches, Grell carefully held the broken pieces, studying them.

_What a mess._

“Grell Sutcliff, William T. Spears, your test it's successfully over". Grell Sutcliff turned around to see their instructor jumping the demon's dead body with a disgusted expression and walking towards them, taking some notes, that the redhead supposed had to do with their combat performance.

“Even if the demon managed to blow up an entire print shop and this idiot got hurt?" Grell mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

“Even if you stole that outfit you're wearing now". The instructor quietly laughed and Grell huffed, looking back at William. “Oh right! Let's take him to the hospital wing".

A strange and sudden motion brought William back to the undead world. He could hear the sound of footsteps walking beside him or perhaps, carrying him somewhere, judging by the awkward movement of his legs and arms.

His face was still burning and all he could remember was the redhead shouting:  _“watch out!"_ in that ridiculous attire and then getting scratched from side to side by those ugly long and black nails that...

The  injuried reaper jumped in bed, screaming, scaring the redhead that jumped also in the chair he was sitting for the past two hours, dropping his book that fell to the floor beside him with a loud tud.

Cursing and blushing for being taken by surprise, Grell bent to take the book and place it over the nightstand, noticing an unfocused pair of eyes staring at him, or so he thought, making him blush even more, relieved that his stupid roommate couldn't see anything without his glasses.

“Where am I and why I can't see? Where's my glasses?" Feeling a strange piece of fabric covering most parts of his face, William then raised one hand to touch it and noticed that it was a fine line of bandage where he remembered, the demon scratched his face.

“You're in the hospital wing of the academy and your glasses are history now, so Pops should be making you a new pair anytime soon. Consider yourself lucky that I was your teammate in the test or your glasses wouldn't be the only broken thing".

“Grell?" William inquired turning his head to where he thought the redhead was sitting. “Why are you here? Are you hurt too?"

The redhead suddenly blushed again, actually caught off guard by that question.

_Yeah... why was he there?_

Grell Sutcliff grunted as a response and William sighed heavily, wondering why it was too hard to admit for the redhead that he indeed was worried for his partner's well - being.

But being honest, the thought of Grell actually worrying for someone else, was, somehow, quite mortifying.

“Our instructor said that I had to wait for you to wake up and make sure that you could _brighten us_ with your presence in the classroom after lunch". The redhead shrugged with his usual sarcasm and something in these words made William sigh with relief.

Then his wounds were healing and nothing was wrong with him.

“The instructor said, also, that you passed out, most likely due to the adrenaline coursing through your body. Apparently you make a big deal of any type of wound so you probably thought that you would die by that stupid scratch and your mind went into a full survival mode, knocking you out. How stupid!"

It was the turn of William to frown with the redhead's words.

“The instructor said such thing?" The taller reaper asked and Grell shrugged again.

“Mostly Undertaker" the redhead sighed, waving a hand as it wasn't relevant.

Before William could even speak, both reapers heard footsteps coming from the hall and stopped talking just in time to see, or at least Grell, an elderly woman walking towards them and holding a tiny case in both hands.

“You must be William T. Spears, the poor darling". The woman said with a smile, carefully opening the case and revealing a new pair of training glasses. “Pops made this for you! Next time take care of your glasses, dear!" Then with the same extreme care, she sat next to him in bed, placing the glasses over Will's nose, making sure of not touching the bandages in any way and making the redhead giggle. “And you must be the incorrigible Grell Sutcliff everyone talks about!" she said in a motherly tone, standing up and stopping next to the redhead to pinch one of his cheeks without warning, smiling once again before walking back towards the hall and leaving a deep blushed redhead behind.

“Don't... you dare". Grell mumbled before William could even say a word.

Before William could even speak, again, a faint giggle could be heard in the hallway, making William give a soft groan of complaint.

“Feeling better, young boy?" The Undertaker asked with a big smile dancing on his lips. “And with a new pair of glasses! Then I suppose that you two are ready for the lunch break".

“Shouldn't I stay here for at least the night?" William asked raising one eyebrow even when under the bandages, no one would notice such gesture. Undertaker shrugged.

“The wound isn't that deep, just a scratch. Be thankful that you didn't end looking like me thought!"

Eat was the last thing William wanted to do, after the fight. His face still had that tingly sensation, even if everyone thought that he was just fine.

“Honestly, who on this realm makes this food ugh?"

William raised the head from the protection glass, looking at what Grell was prooding with his fork, next to him in the line.

“ _Lasagna_?" The taller reaper questioned, fixing his glasses and studying the dish.

“With layers of rice on it?" Grell gave a frown and looked to a bowl filled with some kind of meatballs. “Are meatballs supposed to be this big?"

William pinched one of the meatballs with his own fork, placing it at his nose level and giving a faint sniff.

“Smells good to me" the reaper said, taking a couple of them and some sort of russe salad which potatoes were cut in strangely different sizes one of the others.

“At least the dessert looks decent. Cake. _Well, hopefully not filled with rice too..._ ” Grell said with clenched teeth, following William to the farthest table on the dining room and actually surprising him when sitting at the opposite side of the table.

“I thought that you found me dull and boring. Also thought that sitting next to me was a complete pain in the ass”.

The redhead that was already playing with the food of his plate with his fork, snaped his head up, blushing soflty, noticing that his annoying roommate was right and  that unconsciously he followed him to the same table without even think of it twice.

“All the other tables were already occupied. Just shut up and eat, we have to be in the Culture classroom after lunch".

“I suppose that our instructors will give us our grades". William pondered, pinching one of the meatballs in his plate and tasting it. He tasted what it seemed like ham and cheese rolled inside the meat, actually justifying their size. “They taste really good".

“Obviously" the redhead replied before frowning. “Wait, what the hell are you talking about?"

“The meatballs. Perhaps you should try your food".

“First you talk about our grades and now about food!" Grell sighed in annoyance but actually following William's advice, tasting the lasagna and shrugging. “I never get you. I would pay millions to know what's going on in that head of yours".

“I  _can't_ say the same" William counteracted and the redhead grunted but said nothing. “I'm curious about how the rest of the class managed to finish with the test.

“Who caress?" Grell replied with a smile, tasting the cake that looked like some sort of sponge cake filled with a sugary white cream. “While  _I_ pass it, who caress?"

William raised one eyebrow at his words but even if Grell couldn't actually see it, he could guess it by the look the reaper was giving him.

“Alright, well, while  _we pass_ the test..."

As much as he wanted to be positive about the outcome of that test, William couldn't stop feeling that perhaps his luck wouldn't be as good as the one of the redhead sitting in front of him.

“Well, I'm done. Let's go to the Culture classroom and end with this thing so we can go back to our room and rest". The redhead stretched and yawned in the back of his hand.

Sighing and standing up, taking their empty dishes, the taller of the two contemplated the idea of ending being separated from the redhead and wondered if that was even possible, now that they were sharing a room and attending the same classes.

“Try to look more happy? Isn't like we failed the test or something! We killed the stupid demon just in time. 5 more seconds and we would have failed!"

The empty corridors to the Culture classroom never felt as empty as in that very moment. The excited footsteps of Grell, William thought, could be heard in the entire building.

“I'm pretty sure that we both passed that silly test!" The redhead said a few meters away from him, opening the door of the Culture classroom. “I mean what on earth could go wrong?"

But the redhead stopped talking and as soon as he noticed a group of men that he never saw before, except for the Undertaker, of course, standing where their instructor had to be standing and looking at him with no so friendly faces.

“What..." Grell started but was interrupted by Undertaker's giggles, playing with his long silvered bangs.

“These boring men are, like me, members of the academy council and wanted to speak with you and Spears as well".

That's it, William's fears confirmed his worst nightmare.

They were going to be expulsed from the academy.


	8. Results

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this chapter isn't that bad and well, lease let me know what you all think. Your feedback will help me to improve.

Toring his eyes away from the redhead pacing around their tiny bedroom, William tried to busy himself by taking off the bandages from his head and looking at himself in their bathroom mirror.

"I can't believe it!" Grell finally snapped, one hand on his hips in obvious fustration. "We were the quickiest ones killing that monster and we get a freaking B thanks to my "behaviour"? That doesn't even make sense!"

"Other students would say that it's unfair if someone as problematic as you passed with the best grades and didn't had any kind of punishment for his past actions".

"But isn't about that! It's about my freaking combat skills! Not my ethics!"

"Being a reaper also includes knowing how to properly behave, Sutcliff". William said, looking away from the mirror and stepping out of the bathroom, crossing his arms and frowning. "The only thing I don't understand is why, precisely, the Academy Council was called for such message". The taller reaper thought about it for a second, before bending to take off his shoes, neatly placing them closer to the litter's ladder and climbing up. "I suppose that our instructor feared any kind of ourtbust coming from you". Lying in bed, the reaper stared to the ceiling. The memories of their first battle with a demon were still playing in his memory like he supposed a cinematic record would for a human. What would have he done without Grell? He needed to train more.

"Whatever. I'm going to get some well deserved rest". The redhead said, mimicking him and throwing himself on his own bed, restin his chin over his pillow and smiling. "No matter how unfair these idiots want to be, I'm the best student in this stupid Academy and soon they will regret it".

"Why can't you just behave and prove them wrong by acting like a proper reaper should?" William asked, yawning most of the words and making difficult for the redhead to understand them for a moment.

"Acting proper it's boring. Why being like everyone else when you can be something unique and different? Wearing black all day without rest. Tons and tons of paperwork till the very end of our damn existence. We need to spice things up a little, don't you think?"

"Sorry but I can't agree with you". William replied, taking his glasses off and closing his eyes. "Why would I want to break the rules that have been guiding my life since I woke up in this place?"

"I forgot that you're that type of idiot that loves when others tell them what to do and wouldn't move a finger without an order first". Grell yawned, turning to face the wall behind him, taking his glasses off. "The first time I noticed my surroundings in this academy, I felt like if I had an important mission. Like if the reason of why I wasn't precisely death was because my job in this existence wasn't over. A rush of excitment trough my body, my time to shine was finally happening".

By hearing these words before falling asleep, William tried hard to concentrate in remembering what he felt the first day he noticed his new surroundings.

_Disappointment._

After a couple of hours of sleep, that sentiment wasn't gone.

"You always look this awful after waking up?". The pointy teeth of Grell Sutcliff, smiling up at him, made William scowl.

"What time is it?" he asked, sitting up and turning around so he could descend the little staircase. Shrugging, Grell walked to the only window in the room moving the curtains aside and looking outside. 

"It doesn't matter anyways, we shouldn't have any class after the exam". turning away from the window, the redhead slowly grinned up at his roommate who looked back at him with curiosity. "We should do something fun for once, don't you think?"

"I'm pretty sure that your idea of fun and my idea of fun are two things completely different" William replied, bending to put his shoes back on his feet and moving over to the closet, taking off his suit jacket and placing it neatly in one of the hangers. "Also, I'm pretty sure that it means breaking the rules and I'm not going to risks my grades because of your reckless behaviour".

Letting out a sigh of frustration, Grell took a hold of one of Will's arms and pulled him away of the closet with all his might, the last barely grabbing a clean suit jacket before getting dragged out of the room by his overly excited roommate.

"C'mon, I have a couple of exciting things in the human realm that I would like to show you".

"I thought that you found humans disgusting..." panting, William tried to talk in between ragged breaths. Crushing his arm painfully with his fingers, Grell didn't stop running till they were outside in the teleporting point.

"Oh, I do, I do, but as I told you before, they may have some interesting stuff too and I want you to come with me! It will be fun and educational, I promise!" finally letting his arm go, the redhead reaper clapped excitedly, looking at the taller reaper in a way he expected to convince his roommate of coming with him. Like a desesperate child asking his mother for a delicious treat.

"Is this even legal?"

"It's our free time so as far as we don't kill or collect any human soul, isn't our instructors's business what we do with our free time. C'mon! Aren't you at least a bit curious about what's outside our realm!?" Grell replied getting a hold of one of his arms again. "C'mon! Teleport us to the human realm!"

"If you can't do it properly, how have you been in the human realm before?" William asked, considering the fact that maybe part of the injuries his roommate had during his time in the hospital wing of the academy were caused by failed apparitions.

Blushing softly and looking away to the tall grass that surrounded them, the redhead crossed both arms over his chest and grumbled.

"I might not have the most graceful fall but I can teleport myself. Are you coming with me or not!?

Closing his eyes for a matter of seconds, perhaps one or two minutes and opening them back again, William looked around into the darkness of an alleway

"Argh I seriously hate the dirt on my shoes!" brushing the dirt away from his pants and shoes with his hands, Grell Sutcliff looked around, smiling brightly. "Your teleporting skills are improving, I hate roofs".

"I don't want any human to see us so I decided a different location, just that" William replied matter of factly, taking his glasses off to clean them with one of the sleeves of his suit jacket. "Let's finish with this before dinner".

"I promise that you will not be disappointed".

"That remains to be seen".

Grell giggled already starting to walk, William following him as closer as he dared.

"Really, Sutcliff? A museum?"

"But they talk about us too! There's a big cult around us, the death. I think that they mention The Undertaker at some point" Grell said, tapping his chin with one of his gloved fingers. "And they have so many interesting weapons and practices! Come! I think that they even have some drawings of the first scythes ever made!"

William sighed, at least killing someone or something wasn't on Grell's mind. Opening a window with almost no effort the redhead jumped inside, followed by a not so amused roommate.

"The Undertaker says that humans were weird back then. Building huge pyramids to honor a human supposedly blessed by a non existing god but he was no different from his slaves. Would bleed as red as any other slave if killed by something just as simple as an arrow".

"Your morbid knowledge of human's history it's astunning".

"Here, look! The Undertaker says that most of the cultures drew a pretty closer image of how his scythe used to look like". Grell pointed to a pretty well conserved painting of what it seemed like a grim reaper in some sort of black clothing with a long silvered scythe, lurking behind the bed of an infant that looked about to die, surrounded by, he supposed, all his loved ones. "I'm glad that we don't have to dress like that anymore. Definitely unfashionable!"

"Seems like the Undertaker might not think as you do". William said, fixing his glasses and looking away from the painting. "Sincerely, it's hard to believe that a reaper as admired as him, could look as he does today".

"This job could easily make someone go crazy. We haven't even passed our final test and it's so boring already". Grell replied with a shrug and William scoffed.

"I believe it has more to do with some sort of defect. Like an unproper use of the scythe when bringing him back from death or something." William replied and Grell laughed loudly.

"I have seen the way you look at me. I suppose that you think the same of me, don't you?"

"Whatever I think of you it's irrelevant as our unique goal should be the final test and becoming proper trained Shinigami".

"Dear, I have seen your skills in combat. We must work in your performance if you really want to pass the test. But that will be later, now I have so much that I want to show you!" The redhead said, holding one of his arms again and dragging him across every room of the museum that he found interesting enough to stop and talk non stop about facts and history.

_Chainsaws and blood, of course._


End file.
